Storage racks



W. F. OCHS STORAGE RACKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 1l, 1958 i i. lil

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W. F. OCHS STORAGE RACKS Now` 7, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 11, 1958 INVENT OR.

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United States Patent O 3,007,708 STORAGE RACKS William F. Ochs, Washington, Pa., assignor to Wire-Tex Corporation, Washington, Pa., a corporation of Penn- Sylvania Filed Aug. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 754,369 3 Claims. (Cl. Z130-33.99)

My invention relates to rack assemblies for use in warehouses, stock rooms, and the like, and has for its object'racks of light-weight form which can be readily assembled and disassembled and which may be readily adjustable to receive packages and other articles of various sizes.

Another object of my invention is to provide a storage and transportable rack that has a deck frame or base provided with vertical posts for vertical rack Walls and which extend below the deck to serve also as legs, the deck also having wheels that extend to a plane below the legs, the legs of one rack being stackable upon the upper ends of the posts of another rack, and load transmitting members secured to the posts at points adjacent to the upper and lower sides of the deck frame, so as to transmit weight from the deck to the wheels when the wheels are supported on a floor, and to also transmit loads to the deck from a superposed container, when the wheels are on the floor.

As shown in the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE l is a prospective view of a rack.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section showing the manner in which the shelves are hooked to the vertical walls of the assembly.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the manner in which the deck frame is connected to each associated post.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal view showing a manner in which the corner posts and deck frame can be detachably bolted together to permit of stacking the posts, vertical walls and shelves upon the deck or bottom wall of the assembly, when knocked down.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional View through a portion of the structure of FIG. 4, at the rear wall of the rack and showing the manner in which the back Wall of the rack assembly may be detachably connected to the rear corner posts.

FIG. 6` is 'a fragmentary plan view showing the manner in which the rear wall and the end walls may be detachably bolted to the corner posts.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a post.

The rack or container includes a base that comprises a pair of front and rear side bars 3 and 4 that may suitably be of channel form, and forwardly and rearwardly extending bars 5 welded thereto at the corners of the base. Cross bars 6 are welded to the bars 3 and 4 and bar 7 to the bars 6. A deck sheet or bottom wall 8 is welded to the deck frame members 3-4-56-7. The deck frame at its corners extends into the angles of posts 9 and is bolted thereto.

The posts 9 have lower extensions 10 that serve as legs and extend upwardly to serve as corner posts for the structure, and are open at their upper ends to serve as sockets for the feet of stacked or superposed racks. Also, ot' course, the posts could be of other than angular form in cross section.

An important feature of my invention arises out of the fact that the walls 12 and back wall 13, `all of welded wire mesh and bolted to the posts, are of lesser height than the posts, so as to provide suflicient clearance whereby casters or roller-s 14 that are carried 'by plates 15 welded or bolted to the under side of the deck frame will not rest upon lading or packages in the rack, that extend to the upper plane of the vertical walls 12-13. Grooved ice or Ibent bars 16 are welded to the upper edges of the end walls 12, and a bar 17 of channel or grooved form is welded to the mesh 13.

The casters 14 extend to a slightly lower plane than the lower ends of the legs 10', so that they will engage the iloor upon which the rack is mounted and the rack can be moved about readily. Therefore, when a rack is ou the oor it will be supported by its rollers 14, Whereas when it is stacked upon another rack it will be supported thereon lby the legs 10.

Shelves 20 are connected to the end walls 12 at desired heights, by means of hooks 21, and to the rear wall 13 by hooks 22. The hooks 21 and 22 are so shaped and positioned in the vertical walls so that they will Ihold the shelves and the walls assembled under tension, after the manner shown in Patent No. 2,850,172, September 2, 1958. To this end, the shelves are Ibent downwardly at their edges, as shown at 23 in FIG. 2 and rest within bends 24 at the lower ends of the hooks.. The hooks have their leg portions lying against the outer sides of horizontal wires 25 of the vertical walls and have their upper ends bent outwardly at 26 to hook over one of the horizontal wires 27 of the vertical wall. When the shelf edge is inserted into the hook 24 shown in FIG. 2 one of its rods 28 will abut against the adjacent vertical wires 29 of the vertical wall and its edge wire 30 will engage in the hooks 24. The hooks are so shaped that insertion of the shelf to the position shown in FIG. 2. tends to pulll the lower portion 24 thereof outwardly, thus flexing the shank portion 21 of the hook against the inner and outer faces of the wires 27 and 25, respectively.

While ordinarily the racks will be moved on their own wheels 14, they can be transported by fork lift trucks, and fork lift trucks will usually be used in stacking them. As shown more clearly in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the corner posts are detachably connected to the deck members 3, 4 and 5 by bolts 32 that will be removed when it is desired to knockdown and stack the posts, the shelves, the bottom wall and the vertical walls upon one another, for storage or shipment when empty.

The lower leg portions of the posts 9 have angles 33 welded thereto as shown more clearly in FIG. 7 that serve as rigid supports vtor the deck frame when the racks are stacked upon one another as shown by dash lines in FIG. l to thereby relieve the bolts 32 of the weight of the superposed container. When a container is resting directly upon a floor as shown in FIG. 5, a block 33a Welded in each corner post 9 will transmit the load from a superposed container through the corner posts 9 -to the deck frame thus again relieving the bolts 32 of the weight of upper containers.

To further facilitate the dissassem-bly of the parts, I connect the back wall 13 to the posts by clamping strips or plates 34 that will hold the vertical edges of the back wall iirmly in the angle, by bolts 35. The end walls 12 are similarly detachably clamped in the angles of the corner posts by plates 36 and bolts 37, (FIG. 6), although if each end wall were welded in its end posts the rack could still be folded upon the deck assembly by removing the lbolts 32 and 35 and removing the back wall.

To facilitate stacking and to prevent shifting of stacked racks upon one another, feet 38 of somewhat tapered from are welded to the lower ends of the posts -9 and to the angles 33. When stacking this container upon another one, the Lfeet 38 will enter into sockets formed by short angles 39 welded to the edges of the posts, at the upper ends of the posts in Ilike manner to the angle 33 in FIG. 7. The racks could of course be stacked upon one another and be iheld against lateral shifting by the feet 38, even if the angles 39 were omitted.

I claim as my invention:

1. A stackable rack that comprises a deck frame, corner posts for the deck frame, the lower ends of the posts extending below the deck and serving as legs lfor supporting the rack when placed upon another rack with their posts in relatively superposed relation, vertical wal-1s supportedrby the posts, wiheels supporting the dec-k frame adjacent to 4but spaced from the corners thereof, the wheels extending to a plane below the lower ends of said legs, Abolts removably connecting the posts to `the corners of the deck frame, and load-transmitting members secured to the posts at the upper and lower surfaces respectively of the -deck rframe in position to relieve the bolts of load pressures when the deck is supported either by the Wheels or by said legs.

2. A rack as recited in claim 1, wherein twoof the walls are end Walls' respectively secured to adjacent posts, and a third wal-1 is positioned `at the rear edge of the deck frame and is detachably connected to the adjacent posts, whereby upon disconnection of the posts from the deck and the rear wall `from the posts, the walls and posts may be laid atwise on the deck.

3. A stackable rack that comprises a deck frame, corner posts, for the deck lfrarne, the lower ends of the posts extending -bzelow the deck and serving as legs for supporting the rack when placed -upon another rack with their posts in relatively superpo-sed relation, shelves, means removably connecting the shelves to the posts at places above the deck frame, wheels supporting the deck lframe adjacent to but spaced from the corners thereof, the wheels extending to a plane below the lower ends of said legs, bolts connecting the posts to the corners of the deck frame, and load-transmitting members secured to the posts at the upper and lower surfaces of the deck, respectively in position to relieve the bolts of load pressures when` the deck is supported either by the wheels or by said legs.

References Cited in the. Ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 993,491 Wiselogel May 30, 1911 1,103,689 Russell July 14, 1914 1,152,644 King sept. 7, 1915 1,232,537 Hammond July l0, 1917 1,445,395 Harvey Feb. 13, 1923 1,649,065 Jarvis et al. Nov. 15, 1927 2,452,356 Coit, Jr. Oct. 26, 1948 2,562,497 Klein July 3l, 1951 2,743,838 Peterson May 1, 1956 2,756,894 Phillips July 31, 1956 2,808,788 Stough Oct. 8, 1957 2,850,172 Becknex: Sept. 2, 1958 OTHER REFERENCES Roberts Portable Oven Co. (publication), from Black Diamond Ovens," April 15, 1907. 

